An inside look at how I dialogue with the herd and everybody gets to have a voice and a choice, not just me. When we have the trust in ourselves to step outside of dominance/control, and into collaboration with our animals (and children!), some pretty cool things can start happening.
And I’ll tell you, something I’ve witnessed over and over again in the last seven years, is that the horses always seem to have a better idea than mine! This is part of what makes taking the time to collaborate, rather than just direct, so worthwhile. It’s always a win-win.
Watch the video and you’ll see what I mean…
As per the horses’ suggestion, I cut the boards on the back fence and put in a gate:
Et voila, ALL the horses happily eating down the arena with the added bonus of a water trough in here for them, that’s super easy for me to fill, as the waterhole is quite low on water. We need some rain!
Jini Patel Thompson is a natural health writer and Lazer Tapping instructor. She began riding at age 2 in Kenya, and got her first horse at age 8 in Alberta, and so continues a life-long journey and love affair with these amazing creatures.
They do have the best ideas when we stay open!
But holy cow the burs. They appear to be taking over the Maine and tail.
What are your thoughts on this ? How do you think the horses feel about using those but tails for flies ?
Very interesting 🧐
✌🏼💚🐴
Oh Michelle, you have no idea… the BURRS!!!! They area actually worst in my dog Kumba, but just like the horses, there is NO point in removing them, as the minute he goes outside, he is covered in 10 minutes flat. Like the horses, he refuses now to even let me remove them. The ones on the soles of his paws annoy/hurt him the most – but he pulls those out himself, won’t let me help. He has developed an ingenious method using his teeth, but sometimes the burr then gets stuck to the roof of his mouth, so he generates a ton of saliva to coat the stuck burr, at which point it loosens and he can either spit it out, or swallow it.
When Cobra first arrived from the range, he had burrs in his mane, forelock and tail. I had NO idea what to do as he didn’t even want humans within 10 feet of him. So I was forced to wait and watch. They lost their ‘stickiness’ over time and then a couple times, once they were less sticky, I saw the other horses using their teeth to pull them out for him!
I am filming the herd and hope to share a video of the process by the time winter hits – let’s see what nature’s solution is! And no, they don’t seem to mind the burrs at all. Their skin underneath is not damaged or irritated, and they don’t want me to remove them.
I am grateful for burdock’s gift of the minerals it pulls from deep in the earth – which will go into our soil during winter. The roots are delicious pan-friend in the Spring and excellent for liver cleansing. But I will also be mowing the most heavy-growth areas in the spring and seeding with forage plants, because we don’t need THAT much burdock 😉
The pack is in excellent hands with you, Jini. Are you planning on moving there permanently?
That is pretty far from home for you… I hope everything works out! My positive thoughts are with you. xxoo
There’s no “permanent” in my world Deb 🙂 I’ve lived on 4 different continents, been kicked out of 2 countries (political/racial). But my goal is to get this ranch stable and thriving, and then manifest the next property in the elephant-dolphin-whale-horse circle. And then split my time between the properties. I’ve written about this a few times, most recently here:
https://listentoyourhorse.com/how-to-manifest-the-land-of-your-dreams-part-4/
Onward and upward!